No fear, pledges McSheffrey
Gary McSheffrey has insisted Birmingham will show "no fear" when they look to cause an FA Cup upset by toppling Newcastle in tonight's third round replay at St James' Park.Gary McSheffrey has insisted Birmingham will show "no fear" when they look to cause an FA Cup upset by toppling Newcastle in tonight's third round replay at St James' Park. Click here to follow the action live Steve Bruce's side earned a 2-2 draw with injury-ravaged Newcastle in the first meeting despite being down to 10 men for the second half after the sending-off of defender Raidi Jaidi for a professional foul. The experienced Jaidi will be suspended for the return clash after the postponement of Saturday's home Coca Cola Championship encounter with Leeds meant the one-game ban was carried over to the trip to the north east. But 14-goal McSheffrey is confident City can give a good account of themselves although promotion to the Barclays Premiership remains the top priority. Read the full story in the Express & Star
Steve Bruce's side earned a 2-2 draw with injury-ravaged Newcastle in the first meeting despite being down to 10 men for the second half after the sending-off of defender Raidi Jaidi for a professional foul.
The experienced Jaidi will be suspended for the return clash after the postponement of Saturday's home Coca Cola Championship encounter with Leeds meant the one-game ban was carried over to the trip to the north east.
But 14-goal McSheffrey is confident City can give a good account of themselves although promotion to the Barclays Premiership remains the top priority.He said: "We go north with no fear after the first tie. We had the chance to beat them on our own patch even with 10 men but couldn't take it. This time we can enjoy the occasion.
"A few years ago I was at Coventry when we lost at the same stage of the FA Cup to Newcastle and I am hoping there will be no repeat of that."
McSheffrey admits that stopping midfielder Kieron Dyer from having as big an influence on the tie as he was at St Andrews will be key to Birmingham's chances of springing a surprise.
He said: "I thought Kieron Dyer was awesome in the first game. He has had a lot of injuries in the last couple of years but he is the main man for Newcastle.
"If we can keep him quiet, I think we have got a chance.
"James Milner is also a big talent for Newcastle but, if we keep their front three quiet, we know we can cause problems with our own attack."
Midfielder Neil Danns echoed McSheffrey's sentiments and said: "We showed we can compete with Newcastle and before the sending-off the first game was pretty even.
"We will be as confident on Wednesday as we were for the first game and we want to have a good run in the cup.
"There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the team and I am sure we can compete even though they have real quality internationals. Those are the sort of teams we want to be playing against week-in and week-out."
McSheffrey feels he was more than justified in opting to move from Coventry to Birmingham in the summer after playing a major part in lifting the club to the top of the Coca Cola Championship.
He said: "The cup is great but it is always in the back of your mind that you want to play Premier League football, be the best that you can be and if the opportunity comes up, you don't want to let it go.
"I was happy at Coventry and I felt with the squad we had, with me included in it, we were going to have a good push this season for the play-offs and maybe promotion.
"But I've come to Birmingham and I didn't realise how big a club it was until recent weeks. We are in the position now where we want to be, where we all want to be. Derby are pushing hard but we don't intend to give it up easily."
Martin Taylor is likely to earn a recall in place of the suspended Jaidi while striker Cameron Jerome, now recovered from an Achilles injury, is set to replace Nicklas Bendtner who suffered an ankle setback in the first meeting.